Workflow with Nik Software products

About time I share with you my thoughts on photo-editing workflows. No images this time and only intended for techies who are into this stuff. Frequent visitors of this blog know I do my post-processing with Capture NX2 (CNX2) and Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro 3 (CEP3). I still believe that in many ways this is a very strong combination with some clear advantages. But I’m not very religious about this topic, contrary to many others from what I read on various sites and forums. Working with CNX2/CEP3 has its pro’s and con’s. Working with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop has its pro’s and con’s also. There is no good or bad. It comes down to what suits you best.

One of the big pro’s of CNX2 is its non-destructive nature. This means I can make changes to an image and save it without losing the original image settings. The modifications will be stored in the same NEF file under a name I can specify. I can have a series of different sets of changes (including those from CEP3!!!), each under their own name and all stored in 1 single NEF file. The original settings remain in there as well. All in 1 single file. When I want to redo some of the modifications, I simply re-open the NEF image and all my changes are still in there, so I can change whatever I like again. That’s what I call non-destructive! This is not to say that Abobe products are no good, I simply tell you what I like about CNX2/CEP3.

But the story doesn’t end here. Since I seem to be doing more and more work in black and white, I’d like to work with Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP2) as well. And here’s where it all starts to slide a little bit. To begin with: SEP2 is not as integrated with CNX2 as CEP3 is. The big advantage of having all changes, including those from CEP3, in 1 single NEF file does not apply to SEP2, I’m afraid. Sure, you can specify in CNX2 you want to use SEP2 as an external editor, but when you save your changes in SEP2 it can only write it to a TIFF file (no NEF support) and your actual changes are lost. Meaning a next time you have to start from scratch if you want to redo your changes.

Well okay, not being thrilled by the CNX2/SEP2 (lack of) integration, I gave Lightroom 4 (LR4) a try with SEP2. Being able to organize and manage your entire photo-library in a catalog is like heaven. With CNX2 you’re on your own, since it completely lacks this functionality. Just as in CNX2, you can specify an external editor in LR4. Multiple even! But LR4’s way of working with SEP2 is the same as in CNX2, I’m afraid. Destructive. Image changes in SEP2 are lost once saved.

The only way, at the moment so it seems, is to include Photoshop (PS) in the workflow as well. I can open a NEF image in PS and then use SEP2 from here (menu Filter/Nik Software/Silver Efex Pro 2) and do the black and white magic in SEP2. Click on Save in SEP2 when done. It will bring you back to PS, but the big difference is your changes are stored as a Smart Object layer in PS. Here you can save it as JPG, but you will lose your layer and, therefore, your changes. Instead save it as a TIFF. Yes, it will definitely be big! Over 100MB easily.

So, for my black and white photo-editing it seems PS/SEP2 is the only viable solution from now on that allows me to work in a non-destructive way. There’s no way escaping TIFF too, so it seems. I’d better start ordering some extra storage capacity. And I still have the option of doing my basic photo-editing (exposure adjustments, crop, straighten, contrast/brightness corrections, etc.) in CNX2 or LR4. With CNX2 I can use the saved NEF file to be processed in PS/SEP2. With LR4 I can invoke PS by using menupath Photo/Edit In/Open as Smart Object in Photoshop.

The dream of a one-size-fits-all photo-editing tool will always remain a dream. It will never come true. Nikon, not especially known for its software skills and vision, is not very likely to develop CNX2 any further. Google, now the proud owner of Nik Software,  doesn’t have a clue what to do with professional photo-editing software. What would be ideal would be to have a sort of shell around the various Nik Software plugins. More or less the way CNX2 and CEP3 work together. But both are at the end of their lives. So a new CNX2, by whatever vendor and under whatever name, but with a new fresh look and feel and supporting all Nik Software plugins. I honestly don’t think, however, Google is going to be this vendor. Perhaps they can keep Snapseed and sell the rest to a party that understands this market. Who knows. In the meantime it feels like being stuck between rock and a hard place.